It's time for you to make a difference!

If you aren't involved, get involved and start collecting coats for this years coat drive. We need coats to provide people in need with coats for this years winter and you can help! The month of October, we are collecting coats all over Georgia to help make a difference in our communities. Already so many people have donated their time and efforts and you can too by contacting me at BrianneJoy@gmail.com or commenting below.

All of the fliers are complete and most of the locations have started collecting coats! We are already having a great response to this years collection. Sherwood Christian Academy's 6th - 12th grades compete each fall for the Sherwood Cup. This year part of the competition is to see which grade collects the most coats! What a great way to incorporate Mema's Closet! Sherwood Christian Academy's Lower Campus grades will also be using a friendly competition to help collect coats for Mema's Closet. Thanks SCA!!

For all of you that are helping collect coats or have in the past, share your stories! We want to hear!

Below is a picture of one of the brochures that you may see around your region!

Sample fliers

I am still working on sample fliers! Let me know which one is your favorite!

It's time!

It is time to start collecting! And I am really excited about all of the volunteers this year!

I have sent most of you messages via Facebook concerning drop-off locations and where you will be collecting coats this year. I am really excited to hear back from all of you, and hopefully more people will join the collection project this year.

I wanted all of you to see a sneak-peak of what design I have been working on for this years flier, so please check it out and let me know what you think. This is a screen shot from the sample, keep in mind that the location/drop-off information will vary based on each location.



Please message me if you have any questions, want to volunteer, or know of someone who would like to help with Mema's Closet.

I found it!!

Ok, so I talked to Robin a couple of weeks ago about pictures from the last distribution process of Mema's Closet that we did... Unfortunately, we came to the conclusion that the pictures were lost... Great news! I found them!!!

A little background on the pictures, this particular year we decided (since we didn't have a great method of distribution) that we would set up at 2 locations to pass the coats out personally: Albany (Sherwood Baptist Church) and Sylvester. We put ads in the paper and HOPED that only people who really needed coats would take them. Here are a few pictures I recovered from the Albany location. By the way, Mama was at the Sylvester location and Destiny and I were at the Albany location. Rita and Bailey stopped by after Bailey's soccer game to help in Albany.

Special thanks...

Thank you to everyone who provided a special story about Mema or a special memory you had of her. They each were really moving. Please continue posting memories as you'd like, I will always enjoy hearing them. (If you've had trouble in the past posting comments, I believe I fixed the issue and it should be working find now.)

Jessica Giles Davis found some great pictures of her, Mema, Papa, and my mom at different times. I am so grateful that she shared them with me and I am happy to share them with you.


This one is of Mema, Jessica, and Mama (Lisa) one year at Halloween. (Apparently before we stopped celebrating that day!) :) Mema was a clown for Halloween in every picture I've ever seen of that time of year.


I love these 2 pictures. It really shows how caring Mema and Papa both are and how much they really love Jessica. This is a special moment that I am so happy we have pictures of! I wonder how many children Mema (& Papa) helped teach to ride a bicycle?!

Thanks Jess, for sharing these with us!

Blessed

No current updates on Mema's Closet, drop-offs, or new volunteers but...

This past week I was privileged to spend a week at the beach with my family (Brian, Lisa, Bethany, Brian Ray, and Justin.) The beach is definitely a place were I am often reminded of Mema. It was one of her favorite places to be; and we created lifelong memories of time spent with her, particularly at the beach.

I am not even sure how long ago it was, but awhile ago, we were on the "Women's Beach Trip" (which we use to take every year and all of the women on the Futrill's side usually go.) On this particular trip, me, Bethany, and Karen wanted to go para-sailing. (I don't even remember all of the details, so correct me if anyone knows differently.) Me, Bethany, and Karen were too little to ride alone, so Aunt Jean and Mema decided they would ride with us. I got to ride with Mema, and Aunt Jean rode with Bethany and Karen. While we were up in the air, Mema (who always was chewing gum) decided to spit her gum out just to see how long we could watch it until it disappeared. We had the best time.


This past week, memories of Mema flooded through my head (which happens often) and I was blessed by the memories we got to share with her. She was such an inspiration to be around and I miss her so much. It's times like those when I'm just sitting on the beach and I smile because of a great memory that I am reminded how blessed I am to have such a wonderful grandmother. And how grateful I am to be her grand-daughter.

While we were at the beach, Mama, Bethany, and me got to spend some time together just enjoying each others company and laughing together. In some of this time, we talked about Mema and memories we have of her. It's times like last weeks vacation that I am so grateful and value the time I can share with my mother and sister. (And family!) I've learned over the years that I can't take time or love for granted, time is a gift and the Lord doesn't promise us tomorrow.

If you have a minute, take a second and share a memory you have of Mema... I could write a billion posts of memories, but I would love to hear some of your favorite memories of her.

Yipee! We're starting to move along.

Today I received an email from Robin Allen, and she has jumped the gun. She is already looking for ways to help and get the community involved in this years collection project. Such great news!

Plus, doors are opening up for me in Savannah. I had the opportunity this morning to speak with my boss at eMarketSouth about Mema's Closet and how beneficial it has been to the South Georgia region in the past few years. He was really impressed and I hope that opens the door for eMarketSouth, along with Key to Savannah to join the cause. I hope living in Savannah will really boost Mema's Closet popularity status.

I am also working on designing the fliers for Mema's Closet this year. So, if any of you have suggestions on a favorite picture of Mema you would like to see on the flyer, please leave a comment below or email me a picture. :)

More great news!

Today, Holly West and Rita McDonald both told me they have already got coats together for Mema's Closet! What a blessing! Also, Stephanie Thompson told me that the College & Career program at Sherwood Baptist Church would love to help the cause. It feels great to know that so many people are joining the band-wagon!

I wanted to mention too, that if anyone has any pictures of Mema, or you with Mema, please email them to me! I would love to post pictures.

Exciting news!

Today I received news from Jean Wingate that she has already collected over 100 coats for Mema's Closet this year! Thank you so much Aunt Jean. That is a great jump start!

Also today, Alex Hall, Haiden Hudson, and Marla Middleton volunteered their services! Alex will be collecting coats in the Athens area. Haiden has offered to help in any way she can. And Marla, along with the help of her Phi Mu sorority sisters, will be covering the Statesboro region!

Expanding!

I am so excited to mention that I have spoken with several of you and am looking forward to the 2010 Mema's Closet coat drive! As the time nears, I will be sending out personal emails to help determine exactly what I will need help with.

I am thrilled to announce that Mema's Closet will not only be reaching the communities of Albany and Sylvester, but also Columbus, Savannah, and Valdosta! (My traveling from location to location over the past few years is finally coming in handy.)

I spoke with Bethany about locations in Valdosta, in which her and Jessie Rolling with be helping me collect coats. I am hoping that Rita, Robin, and Sonya (along with Bailey, Callie, Destiny, and Maddie) will be able to help me cover Sylvester. Brooke Bonnell and Klaire Kirkland have offered to help me collect coats from the Columbus area. I have asked Mama and Teresa Heape to help me specifically with the Albany region; but I know that others may have some areas in Albany that can help and that would be greatly appreciated! (hint, hint) And since I will be moving to Savannah in a few weeks, I (hopefully with the help of Megan Piper-White) will be collecting coats in the Savannah area.

With all of this said, it seems that Mema's Closet is growing! Which is a blessing straight from the Lord! I look forward to seeing how much He blesses Mema's Closet this year.

Getting Started!!

I am looking at starting promoting Mema's Closet sometime in August... So, I am looking for locations that would not mind being a drop-off location. I would need numerous drop-off locations around Albany and Sylvester. If anyone knows of locations that would not mind me leaving a box (labeled with the purpose and task of Mema's Closet, drop-off deadlines, etc.) it would be greatly appreciated!

In the past, Sherwood Christian Academy Upper and Lower campuses and First Baptist Church of Sylvester were major drop-off locations and were very successful!

Any help anyone can offer is great! So please let me know!!

In the beginning...

Mema's Closet was inspired by my grandmother, Faye Leggett, also known as Mema. She was on a quest to collect winter coats for families and children in need around the community in early 2005. She was encouraged and inspired after reading an article about USA WEEKEND's annual event, Make a Difference Day. (Make a Difference Day is a day recognized nationally to help others - "a celebration of neighbors helping neighbors." And takes place every 4th Saturday in October.)

In late 2005, she passed away suddenly, leaving behind a legacy. In a closet at her home, we found over 150 coats which she had intentions of distributing around the community to those in need. With this image, I envisioned a larger picture of how I could make a difference through her inspiration. This in turn motivated Mema's Closet.

Annually, we organize, promote, and collect winter coats for Mema's Closet, typically between September and October. Because Make a Difference Day was the origin of the idea, this day has been chosen as a time to count and organize the coats collected. The first Saturday in November has been adopted by Mema's Closet as the day of distribution.

Since the development of Mema's Closet in 2005, the program has collected and distributed over 1,000 coats. We have witnessed in the past our efforts blessing members of our community, but in the future we hope to reach our helping hands out to other communities as well.

With this knowledge, get ready to help us collect winter items in 2010! You can help by donating old, winter coats (in good condition) to Mema's Closet. Drop-off locations will be determined at a later date. For now, if you have winter items that you would like to donate, please contact me at BrianneJoy@gmail.com or leave a comment.